Audit

The American Institute of CPAs is pushing to improve the quality of employee benefit plan audits, in part by discouraging unqualified firms from offering the service, in advance of an upcoming report from the U.S. Department of Labor that is expected to find continuing problems with the quality of one-third of the audits.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued a set of questions and answers on the services a practitioner can provide in connection with the American Land Title Association’s Best Practices Framework for real estate settlement.

A Citigroup Inc. unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP must face claims they played a part in costing investors more than $1 billion in Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, an appeals court ruled.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed three accounting standards updates related to employee benefit plans and another update for electricity contracts.

Practical tips for when and what to disclose

Senators Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Grassley, R-Ia., have re-introduced legislation to make disciplinary proceedings of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board public in order to expose auditing deficiencies at firms or the companies they audit in a timely way and help curb violations.

Chief audit executives in the power and utility industry rank cyber security as the highest risk and biggest concern for their industry, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has voted to begin research on improving the disclosures by state and local governments about going concern and debt.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed accounting standards update to improve the information provided in not-for-profit financial statements and notes to financial statements that could have major implications for nonprofit organizations.

While the number of financial restatements has leveled off in recent years, there was an increase in restatements by large public companies known as accelerated filers for the fourth consecutive year.

The financial information company Sageworks has introduced two new modules for its Analytical Procedures software that will help accounting firms automate audit work for government entities and financial institutions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $65 million to settle claims over its audits of the failed investment company MF Global.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board released two accounting standards updates last week, one of which covers the fees paid for cloud computing while the other applies to defined benefit obligations and plan assets.

The Maryland Association of CPAs scored some wins for its members in the Maryland State House this session after lobbying lawmakers earlier this year.

The Center for Audit Quality and the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association are providing access to audit firm employees for four academic research projects.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has entered into a cooperative arrangement with the Auditors’ Public Oversight Authority of the Ministry for the National Economy of Hungary to oversee audit firms subject to both regulators’ jurisdictions.

Ernst & Young LLP agreed to pay $10 million to settle New York’s lawsuit accusing it of helping Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. hide financial problems in the years leading to its 2008 collapse.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants have published a report examining the future function of the CFO in the finance department of tomorrow.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants has revised its ethics code to improve the independence provisions for auditors.

Profitability, hiring and revenue expectations among business leaders in mature economies soared in the first quarter of this year, according to a survey by Grant Thornton.